Manuel Pellegrini saw his side romp to a 3-0 win over West Bromwich Albion in their opening Premier League fixture on Monday night, and fielded a mouth-watering front three of Raheem Sterling, Wilfied Bony and Jesus Navas.

Sergio Aguero’s return to the first-team set-up has been delayed due to his involvement in Copa America action over the summer but the South-American hot-shot came on as a substitute against the Albion and will likely replace Bony as Pellegrini’s first-choice striker as soon as he is ready to be involved in matches from the start.

De Bruyne would offer the Chilean boss an improvement on Navas, the Spanish winger being a fairly inconsistent performer, and the Manchester Evening News states that City are keen to secure his signing by the time they face Chelsea on Sunday.

The Wolfsburg man managed a mouth-watering 20 assists in the Bundesliga last term, and if he could bring that level of impact and creativity to the Etihad Stadium, City fans would surely be confident that they could trouble Chelsea for the title.